Frozen:The day the sun died
by Brosparkles
Summary: 3 young ponies, sealed away from the world deep within a geo-thermal shelter decide to head out for some fun and excitement. But this world isn't safe for them anymore. Has very light M/M shipping. Originally uploaded on Fimfiction Check there for the latest chapters.
1. Frozen

Frozen

Sol awoke within his room, far earlier than normal, and rolled groggily out of bed. His hoofsteps echoing down the halls as he walked across the metal floors of his room. The walls were all bare, no windows, just blankness. A vent on the wall occasionally shot out hot steam, which he had moved his bed out of the way of. You could still feel the scalding heat, but it was much better than the alternative. Such was the norm living in a geo-thermal shelter. He had been told he was one of the lucky few, his parents managed to secure a position inside of the shelter for him. He had heard from some of the older ponies living within the shelter that it wasn't always like this, but he had no idea what it was like before. His bright yellow mane hung down his face messily, as it normally did. His brown fur was a bit dirty, but nothing too bad. He had a cutie mark, which was a bright flash. The elders seemed to know what it meant, but never told him anything other than it represented tried his best to look presentable, but there wasn't much that could be done. He headed down to get his daily food dosage, which had to be carefully rationed between the residents Only so much can be grown underground, after all. The food was the same as usual, anything that can be grown in florescent lights. It all tasted horrible, and he tried to down it quickly. He received his water dosage, which had to be drawn from the lower ocean. He wondered if this is how all food tasted. There had to be something else out there. But enough lusting for something better. He did have one thing he enjoyed in this otherwise boring life. His friends. The few other children around his age. He ran off towards their usual meeting place, near steam vent 5. That was the one that was furthest away from the geyser the shelter was built on, and not many ponies hung around it. It was a little colder than the rest, but still stayed warm enough. There two ponies waited, exchanging muffled idle chatter. He approached them, and one waved to him.

"Sol!" the stallion called out.

"Get your flank over here! He's got something to tell you!" the mare yelled to him.

The three of them were all young adults, the mare being a year or so older, and the stallion a bit younger than Sol. The mare was a bright purple, with a long, flowing bright red mane. The stallion was a light blue, with a deep blue mane, which was short cut, and didn't hang further than the top of his neck. The Stallion's cutie mark was a wave, representing his skill with water magic, and the mare had a bright amethyst, which symbolised her truthfulness. Sol, rushed off towards them.

"What is it, Aqua?" he asked the Stallion.

"You know that secret I was working on?" He said quietly, looking around, making sure no one was around.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's ready."

Aqua motioned them to his room, and they followed. He closed the door behind them, and he unlocked a box, containing 3 strange suits, one with wings, and two with horns.

"You actually got them working?" The mare said, grabbing one of the horned ones.

"Yeah, but we can't use them yet Amethyst. We can't just wear these around the shelter."

Sol grabbed the winged ones, being a pegasus.

"Well, is everypony ready?" Amethyst asked.

"I know I am." Sol said.

"I guess so." Aqua said.

They put the suits back into the box, which aqua carried with him. They acted normal, and calmly walked throughout the shelter, towards the exit, long ago closed. Aqua pointed them to a small closet where they could get the suits on without drawing suspicion, no pony came near the exit anymore. Sol got a closer look at them, and they really did seem to be perfect. They were a bit loose, but were completely enclosed, except for a mask, which had to be attached separately. It looked like something you would see in one of those old comic books that someone showed him once. It even covered the tail, although not very comfortably.

"So, why do we need these again?" Amethyst asked.

"Well, we don't know what's out there, I want to be safe." Aqua replied. "Sol, could I say something to you?"

"Aww, the two lovebirds want to be left alone? I'm heading to the doors, see ya." Amethyst said.

"I'm sure that these are safe, but...I have no idea what's out there. If something happens, I just wanted to say...I love you."

They kissed, in a more bittersweet fashion than usual. Sol tried not to show it, but he was afraid. But he couldn't just sit around in here waiting for life to pass him by, not anymore.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, what's the worst that could happen?" Sol asked.

"You're probably right, but you never know." Aqua responded.

"What are you two doing in there! Get out here already!" Amethyst yelled from outside the door.

"We should probably go." Sol said, sliding his helmet on.

Aqua nodded, and slid his on as well. They exited the closet, and approached the doors. The doors were built on an automatic airlock system, and as they passed through the first one, it closed behind them, and there was a bit of a walk to the second one, to give the door time to close. Sol was shaking, both from excitement and from fear. Aqua was a bit as well, though mostly from fear. Sol felt like he had dragged Aqua into this scheme of his. Amethyst was down with it from the start, but Aqua had seemed hesitant. But it was too late to turn back now.

"Okay, everyone turn on the temperature control, the oxygen circulation, and the solar panels. We need to be prepared for anything." Aqua said through small radios he put in the helmets.

They all turned on each function as he named it, and Sol noticed the suit was indeed solar generating.

"I found these really nice solar panels, they're really tough, and don't lose much to heat. I don't know why they were all just sitting around." Aqua said, noticing Sol looking at them.

"Let's go." Amethyst said.

"Right." Sol agreed.

Aqua slid the door open, and they head through. The doors closed behind them, and stayed sealed. A loud thud was heard, and the door would not open from this side.

"Well, we can't go back." Aqua said.

The three of them were in a small cave, dug into the ground over a geothermal hotspot. Steam shot up around them as they headed out.

"I can't see anything." Sol said.

Aqua fiddled with his helmet, and a light shot on.

"Turn yours on." Aqua said to the other two.

They both flicked the lights on, and could see. The cave was very dark, the darkest they had ever seen. The surface was just up ahead. They walked out of the cave, and began to survey the land. Snow covered the land, except near the geysers, which kept snow off of the area near them. It was still unbelievably dark.

"It's too dark to get any use from this solar." Aqua said. "But the batteries should be good for quite a while, hopefully the sun will come up soon."

The Sun was always this sort of mythical object to Sol. He had never seen it, but he heard it was a huge ball of fire in the sky. It seemed like some sort of myth, but supposedly it was real. All around was nothing, but after scanning the area with flashlights for quite some time, Sol spotted a building.

"I suppose we should head inside." Aqua said.

"It'll be more fun than walking around in the snow." Amethyst said.

Snow was interesting to him as well. He had seen water, but never seen it freeze. The three of them headed off to this building. Inside were lot of mundane things, it looked to be a transport station that had been abandoned. Amethyst found a slip of paper, which she unfolded. It was a map of a land called "Equestria." That seemed to be where they were, as it matched one of the ones they saw in the shelter.

"The shelter is in the Dragon Mountains, right?" Sol said.

"Yeah, we're nearby Canterlot. Still quite a distance to go on foot though." Aqua said.

"I heard there are these things, trains I think, that could take us there." Amethyst said.

"Oh, right! That old railroad worker talked about them!" Aqua said.

"It says here the railroads passed by often." Amethyst noted, looking at a schedule.

"Well, it is a train station." Sol said, noticing a sign, which read "Hoofington Train Station."

"Cmon, the train can't be far." Amethyst said.

"Can we really run one with just 3 people?" Sol asked.

"We won't know until we try." Aqua said.

The three of them headed towards the rails, careful of anything in the shadows. Not far from the station, a large metal beast sat on the rails, intimidatingly staring them down.

"That must be it. It looks a lot like what he said it would." Aqua said.

"That thing can move?" Sol said, shocked.

"I don't know, it looks pretty heavy." Amethyst said.

"It must have a huge engine." Aqua said.

The three of them approached the train cautiously. Amethyst gave the front of it a light tap with her hoof.

"It's probably broken. Why else would it just be left here?" Sol asked.

"Where is Hoofington?" Aqua asked confusedly.

"What?" Sol asked.

"It isn't on this map." Aqua said.

"But, it's a town, isn't it?" Amethyst asked.

"Is it?" Sol asked. "I don't see any sort of town."

Sol and Amethyst looked around for any sort of signs of a town, while Aqua kept checking the map. The occasional little bit of a wall or some flooring would show up, but no homes.

"Amethyst, over here." Sol said, looking around the remainders of one home.

"Ashes." she said.

"You think it was burned down?" Sol asked.

"Sounds like it, but why?" Aqua said, hearing the conversation through their radios.

"An accident?" Sol suggested.

"Arson?" Aqua added.

""I dunno." Amethyst said.

"Hold on." Aqua said.

"What?" Amethyst asked.

"There's something crossed out on this map." Aqua said.

"Do you think it could be Hoofington?" Sol asked.

"Maybe. It looks like there was a city here. Why would it be crossed out?" Aqua asked.

"Because this place is gone." Sol said.

Amethyst entered the train slowly, flicking her light back and forth, scanning the area. Nopony seemed to be inside.

"But that would mean that this map was changed after the city was burned." Sol said.

"Who would be here to change it?" Aqua said.

"Well, the train station is still here, maybe someone was still running it for a while." Amethyst said.

"That'd be a pretty bleak job. Running a transport station for a dead town." Aqua remarked.

Amethyst noticed her hoof hit something on the floor. She shone her light on it, and jumped back, horrified.

"Gaaaah!" She exclaimed.

"Amethyst?" Aqua yelled.

"I'm fine. But...get in here." Amethyst said.

Sol and Aqua headed into the train, and saw what she was horrified of. A mare, long dead, was on the floor in front of her, iced over.

"What happened?" Sol asked.

"I don't know! She was just...here!" Amethyst yelled.

Aqua fiddled with another small device on his suit, a small black dot. Some static was heard, and his voice amplified. A tape recorder started up, which he had modified to playback instantly, so he could hear things from outside of his suit, and speak outside of it as well.

"Damn, you really put everything you could think of into these, didn't you?" Amethyst said, impressed.

"Hello?" Aqua asked, his voice projecting throughout the train

No response. He turned the speaker back off, but left the recorder functioning. Sol turned his on as well, as did Amethyst.

"Come on, let's see if we can get this thing started." Sol said.

"How?" Aqua asked.

"It can't be that hard." Amethyst said.

The three of them walked towards the back of the train. With the recorders on, they could

hear nothing but their hoofsteps on the floor of the train. .

"That must be the engine ahead." Aqua said.

"I don't see anything." Amethyst said.

"Over here." Aqua said, as he approached the engine.

"That little thing is supposed to move this whole train?" Amethyst said.

"Well, someone needs to go up front and operate it." Aqua said.

"I can do that." Sol said.

"Okay, it shouldn't be too hard, this thing's on a track." Aqua said.

Sol hovered over to the front of the train, where the controls were located.

"So, do you know how to start this?" Amethyst asked.

"No, but it should work like any other engine, just put some fuel in." Aqua said.

"Like this?" Amethyst said, grabbing some coal.

"That should work." Aqua said. "But I have no idea what will happen when it starts."

"Well, might as well give it a shot." Amethyst said, as she chucked some coal into the engine.

"Now to start it up." Aqua said.

He scanned around the engine, until he found the startup controls. He pulled a lever, firing up the engine. but nothing seemed to be happening.

"Is it working?" Amethyst asked.

Before Aqua could answer, an ear-splitting crash was heard, followed by a screech. A rusted piston began to screech back to life, and slowly started to function. The engine was up and kicking once more, a symbol of hope in a desolate wasteland.


	2. Smoke

A plume of smoke shot from the train, and it roared furiously.

"Sounds like it's working." Aqua said.

"What was that?" Sol yelled over the radio.

"It's working, you should be good to go!" Aqua said.

Sol cautiously started up the train, and it began to crawl forward.

"Liftoff!" Amethyst yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Aqua! This is amazing!" Sol said excitedly. "Come up here, you have to see this!"

"You'd better go up there, I can keep the engine fed." Amethyst said.

"Thanks." Aqua said.

Aqua walked up the length of the train, when a blinding flash shot through the train.

"Whoah! There's lights on this train!" Sol exclaimed gleefully.

"Yeah, I can tell." Amethyst said.

"It really is a great machine." Aqua said.

"So, how far to the nearest city?" Amethyst asked.

"Canterlot isn't too far away from what I can tell on this map. and the train tracks should

run right through it."

Aqua felt his hoof bump against something else, another dead, this one a stallion.

"What happened on this train?" Aqua asked.

"Huh?" Sol said.

"Who were these ponies?" Aqua asked.

"They look like they died too long ago to be of much concern now." Amethyst said.

"I'm not worried about something on the train, I'm worried about what's outside." Aqua said.

"It's so white. You'd think nature would get bored, being all one color." Sol said.

Aqua entered the front of the train, and looked out the windows. White whipped by him, the snow seemed to run through his vision.

"You really seem to be having fun with this thing." Aqua said.

"It's amazing! Have you seen how fast we're going?" Sol said.

"Yeah, it's pretty fast." Aqua said.

"These suits are really annoying." Amethyst said.

"They're a precaution. With the train generating heat, we should be okay regardless soon,

but I wouldn't risk it.

"I will." Amethyst said. "I can't stand this."

Amethyst pulled her helmet off, letting her mane hang down freely. It was a bit chilly, even with the train's heat, but nothing too bad.

"Guys, it's fine." she said.

"Don't leave the train without it on, though." Aqua said.

Sol began to remove his as well, and was exposed to the open air for the first time. He drank it in, let it fill his lungs.

"C'mon Aqua, it's a lot better without it." Sol said.

"If you say so." Aqua said.

Sol helped him pull his helmet off, and they slid the suits off

"Hey guys! Catch!" They heard Amethyst yell, as a bag flew towards them.

"Gah!" Sol said, trying and failing to catch it.

Aqua simply used his magic to catch it, and looked inside.

"What is it?" Aqua said.

"Food, I think." Amethyst said.

"You think?" Sol said.

"I found it on the kitchen car." Amethyst explained.

Inside the bags were various jars of preserved foods, such as canned fruits.

"Apples." Aqua read from one of the cans.

"Oh, and this." Amethyst said, tossing a can opener, not quite as hard as the bag.

Sol actually caught can opener with his hooves, and began to use it on the can. Inside

were small chunks of a whitish fruit, and he took one out and ate it.

"Any good?" Aqua asked.

"It's...amazing." Sol said. "You have to try this!"

Already Sol felt as though he made the right choice, no longer stuck within a small metal container deep within the earth. He was free, and he had apples.

Aqua levitated an apple slice from the can, and popped it in his mouth. The sweetness of the Apple rushed through his mouth.

"This is great! Why didn't we have these down there?" Aqua asked.

"What are you two going on about?" Amethyst asked, entering the front of the train.

Aqua levitated one of the apples, and popped it in her mouth. Surprised, she slowly started to chew. Her eyes shot open, this was the most delicious food she had ever tasted. Aqua opened the bag, nd there wre all sorts of other canned foods inside.

"Well, we'll eat well for a while." Aqua said.

"A while? This will last forever!" Sol exclaimed.

"Not with Amethyst around. She eats for at least three." Aqua said, with memories of her eating some of his food rations

"Funny." she said, grabbing another of the apples.

As she took one, she turned the can, showing them a label on the front, which read "Sweet Apple Acres." Several more cans and bags were emptied, all with delicious foods within. Amethyst let out a loud yawn, her eyes drooping.

"We should probably take shifts sleeping, and keeping the train running. I sleep first." Amethyst said, falling over into one of the train seats.

"I'll go feed the engine."Aqua said, walking down to it.

Sol looked outside, but saw absolutely nothing except what was directly next to the train. He grabbed his helmet, and used the light on it to see further. The ground was completely bare. Plain white surrounded them for miles. Sol continued to scan the surroundings, until he found a large beam of wood shooting into the sky. Suddenly, they began to sprout up all around him. They had smaller chunks hanging off of them in random patterns. He lay back, scanning through the forest, looking at the branches with curiosity. Aqua entered, and sat with him, staring up at the trees. Sol scanned the sky, and found something spectacular. A small dot, shining brightly. The two of them found many more of the twinkling sparks in the sky,and were in awe.

"Sol?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think we'll find? Out there?"

"I dunno. But it has to be better. I know it."

"How?"

"In my dreams. I saw this mare. An elegant princess. She was out here."

"Wait, you saw this in your dreams?"

"But it was real. I know it. She was in this big city, some place you'd never see underground. There was free space to fly, and beautiful buildings."

"I hope you're right."

"I know I am."

Sol headed back to the engine, to fuel it with more coal. The two of them waited, every now and then going back to the engine. Amethyst awoke, and switched places with Sol.

"So how much further away is it?" Amethyst asked.

"We should get there before Sol wakes up, it can't be much further." Aqua said, checking his map. "We've got no idea about time though."

"This place better be worth the trip." Amethyst said.

"Well, we've got no other leads."

Some more time passed, and they started to see actual, standing buildings. Aqua ran off to wake up Sol.

"What?" Sol said, barely awake.

"Look." Aqua responded.

Sol looked out one of the windows, and saw large buildings around him. He ran off to get his environment suit. Aqua and Amethyst followed suit. They stopped the train, and, with their suits fully functional, headed out. The area was somehow a bit lighter, but they still needed lights. They flicked their recorders on, and headed into the city.


	3. Canterlot

The three of them exited the train, suits running once more. As they had discovered in the train, air tanks were not necessary. The city was dark and eerie, being completely blacked out.

"Isn't it supposed to get brighter?" Sol asked.

"I thought so." Aqua responded.

"For a city, this place is empty." Amethyst said.

"Halt!" A slightly muffled voice yelled to them fro the distance.

The three of them stopped in their tracks, terrified.

"State your business!" the voice yelled.

The three of them flicked on their speakers.

"We just want into the city." Sol said.

Two figures approached, both very heavily clothed, with thick coats, and a cloth wrap covering their faces. They both carried large, ornate swords, which seemed to be more decorative than deadly. They were still quite sharp however.

"I've never seen you around before. How do I know you aren't raiders?"

"We're unarmed, and we don't mean any trouble." Aqua said.

"...All right. You may enter, after a search. But we will be watching you closely." the guard said.

The three of them were searched for weapons, which they did not have. They stood still, and the guards began to search their suits for weaponry by running thier hooves across them, and doing a magical scan.

"Proceed." the guards said.

Within the outer city it was still dark, but they could see a light up ahead.

"Light?" Sol asked.

"They must light the inner city." Aqua said.

They approached the light, and the city streets were indeed lit by lamps. The streets were empty, with only one or two other ponies around at any given time, all wearing very thick clothing.. Closed down stores lined the streets, most of which were broken into and empty. At the center of the city, a statue of a young mare and a baby dragon stood.

"Twilight and Spike Sparkle, heroes of Equestria." Sol read.

Surrounding this statue were five others, these just depicting mares.

"Who are these ponies?" Sol asked.

"The elements bearers, of course." a pony walking by them said.

"Huh?" Amethyst said. "What's an element bearer?"

"I thought everypony heard this story. They were heroes, who protected the land of Equestria long ago."

"How?" Sol asked, honestly interested.

""By wielding the elements of harmony. Each of them represented one element." she said.

"Wow!" Sol said. "That sounds awesome!" Sol said excitedly

"Sounds like a kid's story." Amethyst said.

"I think it is." the townsperson said. "That's all its ever been, as far as I'm concerned, we all learned it as kids."

"It sounds so real though." Sol said.

"I'm not sure. It seems a little fake to me." Aqua said.

"Maybe." Sol said, shot down.

She looked to the suits the three of them were wearing.

"Are you new here? I've never seen anyone wear something like that before." she said.

"Yeah, we just got here." Sol said in a friendly manner.

"You might want to go talk with Princess Luna. I'm sure she'd want to meet you, if you're from somewhere far away. She always seems to want to talk to foreigners like yourselves."

"Luna?" Aqua asked.

"Princess!" Sol said excited. "Like in my dream!"

"What?" Amethyst asked Sol.

"She visited me in my dreams." Sol said.

"Yeah, she does that. She's supposed to be the guardian of dreams, after all." she said.

"You mean she actually can appear in dreams?" Amethyst asked.

"I knew it!" Sol exclaimed, his wings fluttering fast. "I knew she was real! Where is she?"

"Up at the palace." she said, pointing to the castle ahead.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Sol yelled, rushing off ahead.

"Thank you for all your help." Aqua said.

"No problem." she said, heading along her way.

"Sol! Wait up!" Aqua yelled ahead, running after him.

Amethyst followed behind them, as they headed to the palace.


	4. Lunar Dragon

Several guards surrounded the doors, covered in gold-colored armor, which marked them as royal guard. they also were very heavily wrapped, as was the norm for living in such cold climate. They all carried pikes, beautifully made, along with side swords. They approached the gates, and the guards readied their pikes.

"Halt!" a large, rough stallion yelled to them. "No one is allowed into the palace."

"But we were told that Luna wanted to see people new to the city." Sol said.

"Maybe so. But not during the daytime. She needs to sleep at some point."

"Daytime? But it hasn't seemed to change at all." Amethyst said.

"Funny." the guard said. "No entry."

"Let them in." a mare's voice spoke.

The guards raised their pikes resignedly.

"We'll be watching you. Closely." the guard said.

"I am most pleased to meet you." the voice said, getting closer.

Electric lights lit up, and revealed a dark blue mare, looking just as serenely beautiful as Sol had remembered.

"They never know the time anymore, it's actually quite late." she said.

"Princess!" Sol exclaimed. "You really do exist!"

"Yes child, I am no mere dream." Luna spoke.

"It is an honor to meet you, your majesty. My name is-" Aqua was interrupted

"I'm Sol, and they're Aqua and Amethyst. It's great to meet you!" Sol said excitedly.

Sol noticed that Luna was not bundled up like everypony else.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Luna gave a slight chuckle.

"I was on the moon for a thousand years. This is nothing!"

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to us about?" Amethyst asked.

"Come with me. I would like to speak in private." Luna said, gesturing them up the stairs.

As he walked, Sol took a moment to look around the palace. Stained glass windows covered the walls, depicting various images. A draconequus, with two princesses flying around. Another princess, this one purple, with a large dragon behind her. A white princess, with a golden orb of light rising behind her, and one that appeared to be Luna, with a white orb behind her. In the hallway were 6 more, each of the element bearers they saw earlier.

"A long time ago." Luna began. "There were two regal sisters, and 6 element bearers, who protected harmony. The eldest rose the sun, and the younger sister brought out the moon. Thus balance was maintained. But as you all can see, I am the only regal sister here."

"Well, where's the other one?" Sol asked.

"We'll get to that. The two of us ruled the land of Equestria for thousands of years. Harmony kept this land safe all those years. The balance of day and night kept this harmony in balance. everything was going so well. As far as we knew, we were immortal rulers. This was not the case. Our lifespans are tied to the sun and moon. The sun has slowly been burning away Celestia. If I had only known the pain she had endured. The energy of the sun eventually became too much for her, and overcame her. The very thing keeping her alive killed her. Without her life force to feed on, the sun quickly burned its own energy into nothingness. The only reason we have not succumbed is the night does not draw on my energy. Even my precious moon draws on energy from the sun. Oh Celestia, if only I had known."

"I'm so sorry." Sol said.

"So, what is this sun?" Aqua asked.

"You mean you haven't even heard tales of it?" Luna said.

"No, but people sure won't shut up about it." Amethyst said.

"The sun was a great source of energy for the planet. It gave us light, food, and warmth. Now it's gone, and our cities are frozen and wasting away." Luna said, and gestured to a stained glass window, which depicted the white princess lifting a shining orb. "This is what Celestia and the sun looked like."

"What can we do?" Sol asked.

"I have no idea." Luna said. "I couldn't have ever imagined such a thing happening. My sister would know what to do, she always did."

"She's dead." Amethyst said.

"Amethyst!" Aqua gasped, shocked.

"What? It's true. She's gone, and there isn't anything you can-." Amethyst said, before being interrupted.

"Please excuse her your majesty. She never learned how to-" Aqua said, before also being interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me." Amethyst said. "I never learned to what? Bow down to my superiors? Be a tool?"

"I was going to say speak politely." Aqua said.

"Please, stop this." Luna said. "She is right."

"Huh?" Aqua said, confused.

"There isn't anything I can do. No more longing for the past." Luna said. "But, how can I act for the future? There isn't anything left."

"Maybe." a deep voice rumbled. "But we can't just give up."

Large steps echoed through the hallway, as a large, purple beast entered. Covered in scales, with green plates shooting up from its head. Its claws scratching across the floor, it slowly walked up the stairway with some difficulty, as its legs were too big to fit on one stair. Its wingspan was quite large, and it had to keep its wings close to its body in order to fit within the palace halls. Its tail swung occasionally when it walked. But despite all these intimidating features, Sol could see a look of kindness on its face.

"Ah, you have visitors. Greetings, I am Spike." the dragon spoke.

Aqua was paralyzed with fear at the sight of the dragon. Amethyst was shaking, but tried to hide her fear the best she could. But this didn't last for long, when their fear was overcome by pure surprise.

"Hiya! My name's Sol! Glad to meet you! These are my friends Amethyst and Aqua!" Sol said cheerfully.

Even Spike was surprised that Sol didn't even seem slightly afraid.

"Hmm, you're quite the interesting one. I've never seen a pony act so fearless." Spike said.

"Why would I be afraid? I can tell you aren't going to hurt me." Sol said.

"Really? Even if I do...this?" Spike said.

Spike let out a roar, shaking the floor. Fire shot from his mouth, and he spread his claws. He extended his wings as far as he could, as they rubbed on the walls. Aqua turned pale, and nearly fell over. Amethyst simply watched in awe.

"Yep." Sol said.

"How?" Spike asked, genuinely curious.

"Your face gives it away." Sol said.

"Well, at least I got the other two." Spike said resignedly. "You know, you remind me of somepony.

"Who?" Sol asked.

"Pinkie Pie. She was like that too, always friendly." Spike said.

"I see it as well." Luna said.

"Wait, you mean her?" Sol said, pointing to the stained glass of the element of laughter.

"Yeah. Unless you know another Pinkie Pie." Spike said.

"Nope." Sol said. "You knew the element bearers?"

"Yep. Lived with one of them." Spike said.

Sol's eyes widened, his began to flutter his wings quickly in excitement.

"You're that Spike? The one in the statue outside?" Sol said. "But you're so much bigger now."

"That statue was made a long time ago." Spike said. "Back when I still fit on Twilight's back. Now she'd fit in my hand."

"Aqua! Amethyst! Did you hear that? The elements are real!" Sol yelled to them.

:"I heard." Aqua said, still recovering from dragonfear.

"Yeah, maybe." Amethyst said.

"How do you keep warm? It's gotta be freezing out!" Sol asked, noticing Spike was not covered in any sort of clothing, not that dragons ever wear clothes.

"The fire in my belly." Spike said. "I heat the city with it, too."

"Really?" Sol asked, removing his helmet, to find it was indeed warm in the palace.

"Yeah. I mean, my fire alone isn't enough to warm all of Canterlot, but it helps." Spike said. "The rest is done by fuel heating. I do burn the fuel though."

"Cool." Sol said, looking to Spike in awe. "I wish I was a dragon."

"So, back to the topic of saving Equestria." Spike said. "Or, at least making our lives a little better."

Spike grabbed some gems from a bowl on an elegant table. He began snacking on sweet sapphires as he spoke.

"Whoah! You eat gems?" Sol said.

"Yup." Spike said, his mouth full of gems. "Sapphires, emeralds, amethysts."

A look of fear shot over Amethyst's face for a moment, until she realized he was indeed talking about the gemstone, and everyone shared a laugh.

"Could I have one?" Sol asked.

"Um...help yourself I guess." Spike said, confused.

Sol grabbed an emerald, and chewed it a little.

"How do you eat these? I need a chisel or something." Sol said.

"Ponies don't usually eat gems. Your teeth aren't strong enough." Spike said.

"Oh." Sol said, a bit disappointed. "But it looks so beautiful."

"Go ahead, take a few if you want." Spike said.

Sol looked around through the gems as the others spoke.

"We need to do something about this." Spike said. "We can't let Equestria fade away."

"I know. But what can be done?" Luna responded.

Aqua and Amethyst removed their helmets, so they could continue talking easier, without electronic devices.

"Wow!" Sol exclaimed, grabbing a ruby, not from the bowl, but within a case nearby. "What about this one?"

"Not that one. It's a very special fire ruby. I couldn't ever part with that." Spike said.

"Oh, ok." Sol said, a little disappointed, but understanding. "So, did the princess leave any sort of clues?"

"Not that I know of. We never even knew how control of the sun and moon worked. We just did it."

"Even I never knew that." Spike said.

"Of course not. We weren't going to let people know that we had no idea how we were keeping the world in balance. We needed to seem competent." Luna said.

Sol found another ruby, this one very round. This one he kept.

"Is this one okay?" Sol asked.

"Sure." Spike said.

"So, why was it that you wanted to see us?" Sol asked. We heard that you like to meet people new to the city."

"Because I'm looking for a hope. The elements are said to reincarnate into different ponies. First Celestia and I, then the six bearers. I need to find the next elements. But I don't seem to sense any sort of connection to the elements with you." Luna said.

"Have you gotten many visitors?" Aqua asked.

"You're the first." Luna said.

"Luna, we can't let this opportunity pass by." Spike said.

"Would you three be interested in helping? Even if you aren't the elements, we could still use your help." Luna said.

"Of course." Sol said.

"I would be honored to help." Aqua said.

"I don't have much of a choice." Amethyst said.

"Thank you all." Luna said. "It is getting rather late, I'd imagine you are quite tired."

"I know I am." Spike said, yawning.

"There are lots of rooms free in the palace. You may stay here for as long as you like." Luna said.

"Thank you for the hospitality." Aqua said.

Luna showed the three of them two the guest rooms.

"Ask me or Spike if you need anything. We'll try our best to provide for you." Luna said.

Spike headed into an enormous room, which seemed to be built as an addition the the palace. an incredibly large bed was within, big enough for him.

"Goodnight to you all." Luna said, heading back upstairs.

Sol took a look around Spike's room. It was huge, he could fly around freely. The room was not what Sol would have expected. Various dresses and manakins, all pony sized, lined the walls, each dressed differently in elegant fashions.

"What's with the dresses?" Sol asked.

"They were made by my closest friend. More than that, even. She loved fashion." Spike said.

Sol kept looking around. and saw some pictures and a couple of paintings. One painting depicted a white mare, with a gorgeous deep blue mane, perfectly curled. Her white fur contrasted well with the background of the painting. Spike was the subject of the other one, this one depicted him with some sort of crystalline heart. Spike curled up on his bed. The pictures all involved him and that mare. One of him as a child, with a much younger version of her. The next of him as a drake, and the mare not much older. As time passed, she began to age throughout the pictures, but did it well, and looked as stunning as ever. The next picture involving her showed her in wedding dress, along with Spike in an tuxedo, much closer to the size he was now.

"It must have been hard for you to get clothes that fit." Sol said.

"Not really. Rarity made them for me herself." Spike said.

"Wait, I've seen one of these dresses before. That's a wedding dress!" Sol said, remembering one of the shelter residents who took hers with her.

"Yeah, it is." Spike said.

"You were married to one of the element bearers?" Sol asked.

"Yeah. I was." Spike said somberly.

"Oh, um...sorry." Sol said.

"It's fine. I don't mind talking about it." Spike said. "It's not going to change anything. She passed of illness not long after this crisis."

"I'm sorry." Sol said again, not sure what else to say.

"She wouldn't want me to be sad about it. She'd want me to keep helping the world, carry on her spirit of generosity. So I moved here to Canterlot afterwards, and help Luna any way I could.." Spike said.

"But I thought you said you lived with Twilight." Sol said.

"I did, as a younger dragon." Spike said.

"You must have been around the element bearers your whole life." Sol said.

"I was. I even had to replace Rainbow Dash once. It didn't work out well." Spike said."I enjoyed talking with you, but I need to sleep, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Sol said. "Night."

"Night." Spike said, turning out the light, and closing the gigantic door behind Sol.

Sol headed off to bed as well, anxious for tomorrow.


End file.
